I recently returned from maternity leave, and have been slowly reintegrating myself back into the real world (rather, the real digital media world ) these past few weeks. When I took leave in February, the tone in the industry was pretty dismal – headlines were peppered with bleak analyst outlooks, lay-offs, shrinking marketing budgets.
While we haven’t done a complete 180, there is a different feeling in the air today vs. 6 months ago. One obvious change is a renewed sense of optimism around brand advertising online. In Q1 of this year, the business of online branding took a huge beating in the press: report after report said the recession would force advertisers to funnel the lion’s share of ad budget into search and other direct response programs so they could better track how precious dollars were spent. Numerous headlines posed questions like “whither display?” talking up the banner ad’s “imminent death.” The recession underscored what everyone already knew – clicks aren’t the best tool to help brand advertisers realize success online – but, in the wake of the economic squeeze, it was easy to get carried away.
Now it seems the tide has turned – or perhaps the discussion became a little more realistic. Last month, comScore and the Online Publishers Association (OPA) released a study to remind marketers of the value branded display brings: display makes search work better – more than 50% lift in web surfers conducting a query after exposure to a display ad; display improves user engagement on advertiser sites; and, the kicker, branded ad campaigns actually influence web users to spend more money. On the heels of that study, Microsoft Advertising partnered with comScore to release a new offering designed to convince brand advertisers to move more dollars online by providing reach and frequency data at the ad placement level. And there is no shortage of upstart companies trying to tackle the issue of online brand metrics – from persistent ad formats to new metrics like time spent, it feels like we’re inching closer every day to making the web a more hospitable place for brands. This is something BuzzLogic is focused heavily on as well – helping brands use conversational media to influence a user’s consideration set as they work their way down the purchase funnel. It’s good to be back, and to know we’re in good company as we help brand advertisers discover a better way to reach audiences online and, in the process, move more dollars there too.